Inga is located in the province of Pichincha, Quito. In the parish of Tumbaco, in the South-Eastern slopes of the extinct volcano Ilaló is the hacienda El Inga, place that was one of the earliest settlements of the pre-Columbian hunter-gatherers of Ecuador.

The archaeological site of Inga is considered the oldest of Ecuador. The place was a campground and workplace that of the “Paleo Indian period”. Studies identify Inga as a camp and workspace because in it inhabited hordes of hunter-gatherers that rambled through the region in hunt of livelihoods and temporarily used this space to develop weapons and utensils.

This camp is not an architectural structure. It’s considered a space characterized by the concentration of materials. In addition, according to several studies, the Inga site was a workplace because the evidence found demonstrates that there were done different activities such as scraping the wood, the leather and the Horn, and the development of stone tools.

In the Decade of the 60s excavations extracted close to 80,000 lithic artifacts, most of them of obsidian, which reveals that this volcanic material was constantly used as raw material. The majority of the found material consists of tools to cut, scrape, drill, such as arrowheads and scrapers, knives, racloirs, and projectile points.

The antiquity of the place, according to the studies done in carbon, concluded El Inga was occupied during 5,000 years from 7080 B.C. until 1969 B.C. So that’s why it is considered part of the Paleolithic period or “paleo Indian” that corresponds to the cultural stage of hunting, fishing and gathering in Ecuador.

Has been also considered the inhabitants of the region of Ilaló were temporarily protected of climate and cold in wooden shelters and huts covered with branches whose temporary camps were located in the Montagne forest which facilitated them the supply of natural resources.

Visits to the archaeological area are not promoted by the Ministry of tourism. In addition there aren’t routes for tourist trails. The inhabitants of the hacienda El Inga are generally those who provide assistance to visitors and researchers to go to the archaeological place.

Inga is located between Sangolquí and Pifo. There arrived the first settlers, attracted by the abundance of mineral resources they occupied for the elaboration of their weapons and utensils such as basalt and Obsidian. To go to the archaeological place of Inga you must take the detour at the Km 7.5 Via Pifo-Sangolquí.